FAO stands for Food and Agriculture
Organization. It was founded in October 1945 with a mandate to raise
levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural
productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations.
Today, FAO is the largest
autonomous agency within the United Nations system with 180 Member Nations plus
the European Community (Member Organization) and more than 3 700 staff
members - 1 400 professional and 2 300 general service staff. The
Organization's 2000-2001 biennial budget is set at
$650 million and FAO-assisted projects attract more than $300 million per year
from donor agencies and governments for investment in agricultural and rural
development projects.
Since its inception, FAO has worked
to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, improved
nutrition and the pursuit of food security - the access of all people at all
times to the food they need for an active and healthy life. The Organization
offers direct development assistance, collects analyses and disseminates
information, provides policy and planning advice to governments and acts as an
international forum for debate on food and agriculture issues.
FAO is active in land and water development,
plant and animal production, forestry, fisheries, economic and social policy,
investment, nutrition, food standards and commodities and trade. It also
plays a major role in dealing with food and agricultural emergencies.
A specific priority of the Organization is
encouraging sustainable agriculture and rural development, a long-term strategy
for the conservation and management of natural resources. It aims to meet the
needs of both present and future generations through programmes that do not degrade
the environment and are technically appropriate, economically viable and
socially acceptable.
COMPREHENSION
1. Fill in the table below with the necessary information about FAO.
FAO- Food and Agriculture Organization |
|
Date
of foundation |
.............................................................................. |
Number of staff members |
.............................................................................. |
Number of general service staff |
.............................................................................. |
Objectives |
.............................................................................. .............................................................................. .............................................................................. .............................................................................. |
2. One of the statements below did not appear in the text. Read the
statements carefully and cross out (x) the idea not mentioned.
r FAO aims to better
the condition of rural populations.
r FAO is
the largest autonomous agency within the United Nations system.
r FAO was
founded in October 1945.
r FAO is active in
land and water development, plant and animal production...
r FAO offers help to
third world countries.
r FAO has worked to
alleviate poverty and hunger
r FAO provides policy
and planning advice to governments
r FAO also plays a major role in dealing with
food and agricultural emergencies.
3. Answer the following questions briefly, in your own words as far as
possible.
a. What
does FAO stand for?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………................................
b. What is the priority of the Organization (FAO)?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………................................
c. What does FAO
aims to meet?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………................................
4. Put the words between brackets before the appropriate definition/
meaning.
(Staff, autonomous,
biennial, investment, alleviate, inception, disseminate, trade, priority )
1……………………………….: independent and
having the power to make your own decisions
2……………………………….: the beginning of an organization
or official activity.
3……………………………….: to make something bad such as
pain or problems less severe.
4……………………………….:
the group of people who work for an organization.
5……………………………….: something that is
very important and must be dealt with before other things.
6……………………………….: happening once every two years.
7……………………………….: to spread or give out
something, especially news, information, ideas, etc., to a lot of people.
8……………………………….: the activity of
buying and selling, or exchanging, goods and/or services between people or
countries.
9…………………………….….: the act of putting money, effort, time, etc. into something
to make a profit or get an advantage, or the money, effort, time, etc. used to
do this.
10……………………………….: the beginning of an organization
or official activity.
5. Find in the text the antonyms of the following words.
a. Dependent (paragraph 2) #…………………………….
b. Minor (paragraph 4) #…………………………….
6. What do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a. It (paragraph 1) :…………………….……………
b. They (paragraph 3) :…………………….……………
c. It (paragraph 4) :…………………….……………